“He claims the monopoly of a public image which he cooks up at home with the family cook. Not troubled by a single contradiction, by a question, a wrinkle, by solid facts he hasn’t even troubled to deny, or by the presence of any strangers. He wants no one around him but relatives and employees. … Our only function is to watch his performance – and applaud.”

What about the other sentences from La Repubblica? Again, loosely: ‘Berlusconi demands, on principle and by divine right, as if he were indeed “anointed by God”, that we passively accept his speeches. He pretends that there are no objections or replies to be made to his words . . . With them [his relatives and employees] the Cavalier breaks into pieces the degraded reality of his life. Then he puts it back together however he likes, with a free hand, and sends it out clean and well lit.’